My New Food Processor and General Happiness

Does anyone remember this post in which I discussed my Amazon gift card and what I wanted to spend it on?  Well, I finally decided that, practically, waiting to get the rest of the money for a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer probably wasn't going to happen anytime soon since we're still in the process of moving and buying furniture, so I bought one of these instead:

I've been saying for years that I didn't need one, but last time I made falafel it took, literally, 3 hours.  And I REALLY wanted to make gyros this week, because we got a bunch of cucumbers and spinach in our co-op basket this week, and lamb was on sale at Safeway...and because I have a whole jar of marjoram I never use for anything else.  So this is what I got.

Okay, so it's amazing.  Magical, even.  It weighs a bunch, and is going to make life so much stinkin' better.  I wanted to test it out after UPS delivered it last night, so I froze some bananas for the one ingredient banana ice cream recipe that's been going around pinterest.

I'm not the biggest banana fan in the world, so I gotta say it wasn't my favorite thing ever (despite the cocoa powder and honey and vanilla I added), but my food processor worked like a dream.

Sometimes I wonder if I just lead a very charmed life, or if the things that make me stupid-happy just aren't that big of a deal.  I mean, should my heart be overflowing with happiness because I now have a decent food processor, my kids haven't pooped in their pants yet today, and because I'm sipping coffee out of a big white and yellow mug?  It seems like a disproportionate emotion.

When I see "inspirational quotes" online like this...

...or...

...I think, "jeez, if you have to be reminded, you're probably not going to cut it." I mean, seriously, how often do people think, "oh, I should smile here, because pinterest told me to."

I think I'm basically a happy person (except for those 2-3 days a month), my baseline is probably 25% happier than most people I see.  I was teased in high school for "smiling too much" and let's just say there wasn't much to be smiling about in high school, it's just a default position for me.  

I used to judge other women for being so "down" all the time, before I realized that they don't have any more control over their emotional baseline than I do.  In fact, most women can deal with "down" times better than I can, because they happen so rarely to me it's pretty much like the end of the world.  Yeah, moving here to Laramie was pretty much the zombie apocalypse.

Anyway, as someone who is basically happy, whether by temperament or circumstance (though I vote temperament) most of the time, I say honestly say I don't think "happiness" is something that can be worked up by enough inspirational quotes and pictures (besides, the fonts on most of those make me more depressed than anything), or blogs about how we should be happier, or whatever.  

Really, I think the most we can hope for and work on is contentment which eventually gives way to happiness, in theory.  So, don't be sad if you can't work yourself up into a frenzy of gladness, it's not a failure, it's a process.  "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Fruit doesn't just happen, it's grown; it doesn't need pressure and inspiration, all it needs is fertile ground, some watering, and time.

You know what's not my default position?  Self-control.  I need to work on that.  Is that a Snickers?

P.S. While I say that I think my general happiness is mostly based on temperament, but I did find $20 on the ground at the co-op pick up last Saturday...if there was ever evidence for a charmed life that's it, right?